‘Lonely Road’ by MGK & Jelly Roll - Lyrics & Meaning

During CMA Fest 2024 in Nashville, MGK served as the surprise headliner for Ole Red's popular Spotify House showcase, with the ‘Hotel Diablo’ hitmaker bringing out his good buddy, Jelly Roll, to perform the latter's No. 1 single, ’Need a Favor’.

Thankfully, what initially appeared to be a one-off link-up was quickly revealed to be a more substantial collaboration, with MGK announcing in July that he'd be releasing a duet with Jelly Roll, ‘Lonely Road’, later that month. It follows the arrival of MGK's stripped-back Zach Bryan cover, ’Sun to Me’, earlier in July, and seemingly confirms the long-circulating rumours that MGK is readying his debut country album.

Excitingly, MGK and Jelly Roll also recorded a dark, cinematic set of visuals to accompany the new track - featuring MGK's partner, Megan Fox, and Jelly Roll's wife, Bunnie XO - which in turn accentuate the stormy, dramatic feel of ‘Lonely Road’.

Although the MGK and Jelly Roll's warm chemistry radiates through ‘Lonely Road’, there used to be bad blood between the artists. As Jelly explained on Bussin’ with the Boys, “There was a time me and MGK had real beef...I was a hater... and I thought I was just a loyal rider...but at the end of the day I was just desperate...I had to call and be a man and say that one day, and we've been cool ever since”.

MGK has become synonymous with his shape-shifting, genre-blurring style, with the Texas singer-songwriter seamlessly moving from rap to punk to indie-rock and more.

For his first official original country single - not counting his cover of Zach Bryan's ‘Sun to Me’ - MGK decides to go big or go home, quite literally, by revamping one of the most popular country songs in history, ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’.

MGK interpolates John Denver's iconic melody for the hook, infusing his punk-leaning cadence into his delivery to give ‘Lonely Road’ a brooding, introspective ambience. He introduces a cascading flurry of rapped lines for the second portion of his verse, which combines with an emphatic drum pattern, before bringing in a lighter, acoustic guitar-led instrumental for the infectious chorus.

Jelly Roll's signature rasp coalesces perfectly with MGK's charismatic vocals, with the duo's layered, almost choral final hook acting as a rousing, spellbinding conclusion.

“Lonely road
Take me home
Take me home
Lonely road”

The evocative track finds the protagonists in the aftermath of a particularly agonising break-up, with MGK seeing no other option but to take the lonesome journey home.

Throughout ’Lonely Road’, there's a sense of sadness at having to pursue this path of isolation, but there's also a feeling of comfort attached to this destination of ’home’, with the artists implying they lost themselves during the relationship and yearn to now return to the place - physically and emotionally - they used to be.

“Imma go downtown
Ain't been in a long time
I'm takin' back Sundays
Since you took away my life (Since you took away my life)
There's some things that I know now
Couple songs that I'd rewrite (Yeah)
Start over like Mondays
Pourin' strong on a weeknight”

MGK outlines his plans to start living on his own terms again, describing how he felt somewhat restrained by his old flame. He determines to reclaim the freedom of his Sundays, before keeping the week-day theme running by sharing his hopes of getting a fresh start in the same way as Mondays provide a new beginning for the week.

“See, I hear the devil wears Prada, but I couldn't read the tags
And your horns started showin' when I seen you mad
But I'll wait for you 'cause this is not the face I knew
I probably could've saved us, but instead, I let us crash
'Cause I don't trust no one to love me back, but shе say, "I do"
And this is not the place for you”

The protagonist offers up a twist on the famous 2006 film, The Devil Wears Prada, by seemingly likening his ex to ‘the devil’. He excuses his inability to spot this sooner by remarking that he “couldn't read the tags” on the Prada clothes she was buying, which appears to be a metaphor for the way in which he looked past any red flags.

He goes on to explain that her devilish ‘horns’ started to show when she was angry, before going back on this by underlining that she strayed from the person he knows she is at heart. As a result, the narrator emphasises that he's willing to wait for her, before confessing it was potentially in his power to salvage their relationship before the break-up, but due to a lack of self-esteem, he simply “let us crash”.

Over the course of this verse, MGK adjusts his stance from being critical of his partner for her part in the break-up, to being self-reproaching and blaming himself for how things ended.

“Lonely road, takе me home
To the place
Where we went wrong
Where'd you go now?
It's been a ghost town
And I'm still here all alone”

While the ‘home’ MGK and Jelly Roll reference throughout ’Lonely Road’ seems at times to denote a place of peace they enjoyed before they entered the relationship, at other points in the song - such as in this hook - the protagonists appear to be pining for a return to the moment things started heading south for the couple, so that they could have a chance to do things differently. Despite the accusations that pepper MGK's first verse, he implies elsewhere in the song that he wants to patch things up and rekindle the romance with his old flame.

“When the days feel long and the nights get cold
And I'm thousands of miles away
I use alcohol just to fill that hole
Will our home ever be the same?”

Jelly Roll doubles down on the core message of ‘Lonely Road’, underlining how his lover's absence makes the hours stretch out painfully and give each night an icy, hostile atmosphere. He admits to depending on alcohol as a means of filling the hole in his heart, before providing yet another meaning of ‘home’, with Jelly explaining how he just wants the couple's home to be filled with the love and hope it used to.

“And if you could salvage my soul
Would you sacrifice this life to not die alone?
'Cause even a palace ain't home without you
So I might leave here soon, but I want to leave you this song (Hey)”

MGK delivers a final declaration to his lover, providing the clearest statement of intent yet that he wants his ex back. He asks her if she'd be willing to save his soul if the price was her life, before painting a romanticised picture of them dying together.

He stresses that even a sprawling, luxurious palace won't feel like a home if she's not with him, before confiding in his lover that he plans to leave before too long. MGK delivers a smooth transition from the reference to leaving his home to his desire to leave his lover this song, either as a parting gift or as a final attempt to win her back.

“This lonely road
Yeah, I'm on this road now (This lonely road)
Feeling so alone
Take me home
This lonely road
Yeah, I'm on this road now (This lonely road)
Feeling so alone
Take me home”

In the outro, MGK and Jelly highlight that they're already some way down this ‘Lonely Road’, with the duo trading lines as they emphasise how the break-up has left them “feeling so alone”.

In the lead-up to its release MGK revealed ‘Lonely Road’ has been a long time coming, sharing, “We worked on “Lonely Road” for 2 years, 8 different studios, 4 different countries, changed the key 4 times, and this Friday you’ll hear we finally got it right”.

During a conversation on Bussin’ with the Boys, Jelly Roll paid homage to the character of his friend, MGK, “He's a great dude. I'm encouraging him right now to go do long form. I'm like go do [Andrew] Schulz, go do Joe [Rogan], get on the [Bussin’ with the Boys] bus, go do the rounds. If the world's seen what I see, they would look at you different. They only see these real artistic pictures you post, and these wild outfits and these headlines. They don't really get to see your heart, and you got such a good heart, like go show the world your heart. Like this dude flies to Cleveland every single weekend to watch his daughter play volleyball. Every weekend. Like won't tour or do shows during volleyball season, like, it's just what he's on. It's just who that dude is. I'm like, go tell that story”.

(mgk, Jelly Roll)

“Lonely road
Take me home
Take me home
Lonely road

-

Imma go downtown
Ain't been in a long time
I'm takin' back Sundays
Since you took away my life (Since you took away my life)
There's some things that I know now
Couple songs that I'd rewrite (Yeah)
Start over like Mondays
Pourin' strong on a weeknight

-

See, I hear the devil wears Prada, but I couldn't read the tags
And your horns started showin' when I seen you mad
But I'll wait for you 'cause this is not the face I knew
I probably could've saved us, but instead, I let us crash
'Cause I don't trust no one to love me back, but shе say, "I do"
And this is not the place for you

-

Lonely road, takе me home
To the place
Where we went wrong
Where'd you go now?
It's been a ghost town
And I'm still here all alone

-

When the days feel long and the nights get cold
And I'm thousands of miles away
I use alcohol just to fill that hole
Will our home ever be the same?

-

I hear the devil wears Prada, but I couldn't read the tags
And your horns started showin' when I seen you mad
But I'll wait for you 'cause this is not the face I knew
And I probably could've saved us, but instead, I let us crash
'Cause I don't trust no one to love me back, but you say, "I do"
And this is not the place for you

-

Lonely road, take me home
To the place
That we went wrong
Where'd you go now?
It's been a ghost town
And I'm still here all alone

-

And if you could salvage my soul
Would you sacrifice this life to not die alone?
'Cause even a palace ain't home without you
So I might leave here soon, but I want to leave you this song (Hey)

-

Lonely road (Lonely road), take me home (Won't you take me home?)
To the place (To the place)
Where we went wrong
Where'd you go now? (Where'd you go now?)
It's been a ghost town
And I'm still here (I'm still here) all alone

-

This lonely road
Yeah, I'm on this road now (This lonely road)
Feeling so alone
Take me home
This lonely road
Yeah, I'm on this road now (This lonely road)
Feeling so alone
Take me home”

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